Machine for operating on shoe-heels.



E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N SHOE HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. I9l5.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ENTDR e. E. WINKLEY. MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N SHOE HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.12\ l9l5.

Patented Dec. 3; 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- E. E. WINKLEY.

MACHlNE FOR OPERATING ON SHOE HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.12. 1915.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3- E. E. WINKLEY.

M-ACHFNE FOR OPERATING v0N SHOE HEELS.

APPLICATION FILED APR-12. l9l5.

Patented Dec. 3, 1918.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

r in, it

nnas'rus E. WINKLEY, or LYNN, ivinssncnusn'r'rs, assrenoa BY MESNE nssrsn- Mnnrs, 1'0 UNITED snon MACHINERY conrona'rron, or rn'rnnson, new JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR OPERATING- 0N SHOE-HEELS.

innit o.

Application filed April 12, 1915.

la citiz'en of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Operating on Shoe-Heels; and I do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description 0 the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to machines for operating upon heels of boots and shoes, and more particularly to improvements in machines for automatically shaping the peripheral surfaces of heels. I

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,102,31l'granted to the present applicant July 7, 191%, a machine of the kind in question is disclosed, this machine being adapted to constitute one unit of a system of machines for automatically producing heels, and being designed to perform the shaping operation on rough heels or heelblocks conveyed to it from a source of supply by a link conveyer upon which the heels are loaded, one heelto each link. As disclosed in said patent, the conveyer is intermittently fed through the space of one link, being brought to rest with a rough heel in position for automatic delivery to the shaping devicesof the machine.

Where a machine is supplied with heels. from a conveyer, in the manner disclosed in said patent, it is necessary that the heels be removed transversely from the conveyer "to the operating instrumentalities of the' machine, and that as so transferred and presented to said instrumentalities the heels shall occupy a definite predetermined position. Accordingly said patent discloses means for locating each heel accurately in a definite position on the conveyer prior to the engagement of the heels by the means by which they are transferred from the conveyer to the operative instrumentalities. To contribute to the performance of the function of such means the conveyer in, said patent disclosed is provided, on each link,

with a flange adapted to serve as a gage,

againstwhich the heel-block to be operated upon, maybe pressed, to determine its po sition on the conveyer before the block is transferred. Since the position of such gage Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, i911.

Serial No. 30,769.

must-differ, however, according to the variabihty in the size of the heels upon which the machine may be required to operate, the means by which the conveyer is intermitlih' tently fed, and isretained in stationary position after each feeding movement, is made adjustable, so that at the termination of the feeding movement the flanges in question on the links shall occupy positions determined by suchadjustment.

One object of the present invention is to avoidvthe necessity of gaging the position of the heel-blocks by engagement with any flange or other part of the conveyer. In accordance with this object a feature of the invention contemplates the provision of an arrangement for positioning the heel-block wholl by means external to the conveyer, and the position of the block, after it is so determined, being regardless of the precise position in which the link of the conveyor which supports the heel block is brought to rest.

The novel arrangement by which this is accomplished not only permits a simplification in the means for feeding and locking the conveyer, since it eliminates the neces heelshaping machine is objectionable for the reason that it tends to derange the cooperative relation of the conveyer and the heel-compressor Or other machine to which to rest prior to the delivery of a heel to the the conveyer carries the heel-blocks from the heel-shaper;

To the foregoing ends it is proposed, in accordance with thetpresent invention, to

use a gage-member, for determining the position of the heel-block prior to the trans ferring operation, which is independent ofv the conveyer, and independently adjustable to adapt it for operation of heel-blocks of diflerentsizes. In, the preferred embodiment of the invention two such gage members are employed, adapted to engage opposite surfaces of a heel-block on the conveyer,

both of these gage-members being movable into and out of positions in the path of movement of the heel block 'on the conveyer and mechanism is provided to move one, of these gage-members toward the other so as to press them in opposite directions against .the heel-block and thus determine its posishaping machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the front-portion of the machine, including those parts peculiar to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan showing, in detail, a portion of the mechanism for actuating the breast-gage, the parts being shownin a different position from that of Fig. 2; and

Fi s. 4 and 5 are, respectively, a rlghthand and a left-hand side-elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.

The invention is illustrated, for convenience, as embodied in a heel-shaping machine generally similar to that disclosed 1n the said Patent No. 1,102,311, and accordingly the construction of the illustrated machine will not be described except in so far as it is necessary for an understandlng of so much of it as is novel.

As in said patent, a conveyer-chain (Flg. 2) is supported and guided by sprocketwheels 22 and 23 journaled on the frame of the machine at the front. The conveyer extends indefinitely to the left of the machine, and is also shown, in the present case, as extending indefinitely to the right of the machine, so that heel-blocks may not only be brought to the machine, but also carried away therefrom to some other machine, such as a heel-compressor.

.The conveyer-chainpomprises a series of links, each of which Has a body in the form of a flat horizontal plate 21, provided with upwardly-extending flanges 24, at'its front and end edges, by which the heel-blocks or rough heels to be shaped are confined upon the plate. The heels, both rough and shaped, are indicated by the reference-letter X (see Figs. 1 and 2). The rough heels may be loaded upon the conveyer manually, but preferably they are so loaded by automatic mechanism controlled by a machine by which the heel-blocks are formed.

Each chain-link is provided with downwardly extending flanges 26, which are pivotally connected, at the ends of the links, by transverse pivot-rods 25. The part of the conveyer-chain which is in operative relation with the transferring mechanism is supported upon a guide 27 having an elongated raised central portion on which the pivot-rods 25 rest, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

The means for feeding the conveyer intermlttently, through the space of one link, is, or may be, substantially the same as disclosed in the said patent, but they may be briefly described herein. The pivot-rods 25 are extended, at the front of the conveyer, to afford bearings for rollers 28. These rollers may be engaged and embraced by two lugs 29, extendmg from a sleeve 30 which is mounted on a rod 31. The sleeve is free to rock on the rod, but is constrained to move longitudinally with the rod by means of two collars 32 and 33 fixed to the rod and engaging the ends of the sleeve. The rod slides longitudinally in In s 34 and 35 which are mounted onthe base-portion of the guide-member 27. To impart such movements to the rod a collar 37 1s fixed to the rod and pivotally connected with two links 39, which are also pivoted, by a in 40, to the upper end of cam-lever 41. 'Fhe lever is pivoted on a shaft 42 mounted on the frameof the machine, and at the lower end of the cam-lever is a roller 43, which engages a cam 44 actuated by a cam-shaft 45. This cam-shaft is rotated by connection with any suitable source of power. When.

the lugs 29 are in engagement with one of the rollers 28 the lon 'tudinal movement of the slide-rod 31 and t e sleeve 30, by the cam-mechanism just descrlbed, results in a corresponding forward movement, of the upper portion of the conveyer, this movement bein in the direction indicated by arrows in Fig. 1, and being of the ampilifiude, in each case, of the length of one Prior to the return movement of the sleeve 30 it is necessary to disengage the lugs 29 from the roller 28, and this is accomplished by rocking the sleeve on the sliderod 31. The rocking movement is produced by mechanism comprising a gear-segment 46 on the sleeve, and an elongated gear-segment 47 in mesh therewith. The segment 47 produced ispivotally mounted on a rod 48 fixed in brackets 49 on the frame of the machine. It is provided with an arm 50 which is pivotally connected with the up er end of a rod 51. At the lower end of t e rod is a camroller 52, which engages a cam 53. This cam is mounted on a transverse cam-shaft (not shown) which also is actuated by connection with the source of power. The cammechanism is arranged to rockthe sleeve 30 similar to the means disclosed in said patj normally holds the finger in its left-hand maestro til at the end of the conveyor-feeding movement a direction to disengage the lugs 29 from theroller 28, as shownin Fig. 4 and the slide-rod 31 and the sleeve 30 are then moved longitudinally in a reverse direction, so as to bring the lugs 29 into position directly above the roller 28 on the next link of the conveyer, whereupon the lugs are.

rocked downwardly into engagement with V such roller preparatory to the next feedmovement.

As in the machine disclosed in said patent, means is provided for locking the conveyer against accidental" movement between successive feed-movements, but as such locking means is, ormay be, in every respect comprising two jaws 71' and 72 (Figs. 4 and 5) which are adapted to engage the sides of the heels. These jaws are movable toward and from each other by the operation of mechanism disclosed in the said patent, their original position being apart and on o-ppo site sides of the conveyer, so. that a heel block may be brought into the space between them by one of the "feed-movements of the conveyer. "The jaws are then closed upon the heel between them, and are then moved bodily so as to transfer the heel laterally, from the conveyer to one of the heel-holding clamps of the machine. The clamp is shown in the drawings as comprising a patternplate 105, (Fig. 2) upon which the heel rests in an inverted position, and a clamping-jaw 106 (Fig. 1) which slides upon a post 108 projecting upwardly from the base 107 on which the pattern-plate rests. These parts are, or may be, all similar to the correspondingparts described in the said patent, and therefore they need not be further described herein.

The mechanism for actuating the jaws of the transferring mechanism includes a yoke 96 carried by a horizontally moving slide 97, I

and appropriate in and out movements in a horizontal direction are given to these parts by means'of a link 98 pivotedto the bottom of the yoke 96, as shown in Fig. 4. This link is'pivoted also to the upper end of a engaging the heel-block. One of these fingers is in the form of a flat plate 59 ar-" ran ed to move into the path of movement of the eel-block on the conveyer, so as to be engaged by the rear-surface of the heel which is approaching the delivery mechanism. ThlS finger is secured, at its upper forward corner, .to a rod 61 loosely mounted in a socket 62 in a bar 63. The bar 63 constitutes a part of a frame, including sidemembers 64 and 65 which are joined by the bar 63. The upper rear corner of the finger 59 is fixed to a rod 66, which is mounted to slide through the side-piece of the frame. A spr'ing67 is coiled around the rod 66, and interposed between the side-member 64 and a collar 68 fixed on the rod. This spring position, but permits the finger to yield when a heel is pressed against it. A collar 69, mounted on the rod 66 outside of the side-member 64, limits the movement of the finger under the influence of the'spring.

. In order that the shaped heel, which is brought back to the conveyer by the transferring-jaws, may be carried by the conveyer past and beyond the'gage-fi11ger 59, it is necessary that the fingerbe moved into and out of the path of the heel on the conveyer at proper times in the operation of the machine. Accordingly the side-members ,64 and 65 of thefingensupporting frame are pivotally mounted on the rock-shaft 48 hereinbefore referred to, so that the frame may is provided with a cam-surface 172 which,

when the slide 97 is movedv inwardly to transfer a heel from the conveyer to the heelcarrier, engages the roller 170, thus swinging the frame and raising the gage-finger 59 out of'the path of movement of the heels.

The rear end of the block 171 is shaped to permit free movement of the roller 170 when the slide 97 is in its outer position, and therefore the finger and its supporting frame are free to. fall, in so far as the operation 'of the block 171 is concerned, when the slide has moved to transfera finished heel from the heel-carrier to the conveyor. time, however, the descent of the frame and the finger are prevented by other means, so that the shaped heel may be carried away at the next feeding movement of the conveyer. For this purpose a bracket 73 (Fig. 4) is secured to the collar 37 on, the slide-rod At thi so that it sustains the foot, the frame and the engage the roller 28.

finger. When the rod is moved to the right to feed the conveyer, the foot is supported first by the bracket 73, and later by engagement with the gear-segment 46, which has been rocked upwardly to cause the lugs 29 to In'this manner the finger 59 is held clear of the path of movement of the shaped heel until the heel has passed beyond the finger. Before the completion of the conveyer feed-movement how'- ever, the gear-segment 46 passes out from under the foot 74, whereupon the finger 59 and its carrying-frame descend by gravity, and bring the finger into position to engage the advancing heel-block on the next link of the conveyer.

To revent the finger 59 from rebounding when it falls to its operative position, a latch 77 (Fig. 5) is pivoted on the top of the block 171. This latch is pressed by a spring 79, and it has a shoulder 78 which swings beneath the roller 170 when the roller has reached its uppermost position, thus preventing the i-oller from descending again in consequence of the tendency of the parts to rebound.

The other gage-finger, which may be designated as a breastage, since it cooperates with the breast-sur aces of the heels, is in the form of a fiat plate 110 shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 5, WhlCll is forked in. its lower portion. The upper end of the plate is adjustably fixed to a plate 113. The plate 113 is slotted, as shown in Fig. 5, and the breast-gage is provided with a dowel 112 and a screw 111, which. move in the slot, and by means of the screw the breast gage may be fixed adjustably at the required height.

The plate 113 is fixed, at one corner, to a rod 114 which slides horizontally through perforations in two parallel side-members 115 .and 116. These members are connected,

'at their inner ends, by a bar 117, and this .bar is perforated to recelve a sliding rod 118 fixed to the late 113. The rods 114 and 118 guide the p ate 113 and the breast-gage in horizontal movement toward and from the gage-finger 59.

The side-members 115 and 116 of the frame which supports the breast-gage are pivoted, at their forward ends, on a .stud 119 which is supported by a bracket 120 on the frame of the machine. This stud is 10- Gated in alinement with the rod 48 on the opposite side of the yoke 96, as shown in Fig. 2.

connection with the supporting frame of the gage-finger 59." For t 1s purpose an arm 123 (Fig. 5) extends upwardly from the sidemember 116, in position tocooperate with a pin 124 projecting from an arm 125 which is fixed to the side-member 65 of the frame which supports the gage-finger 59. When the latter frame is rocked by the action of the cam-block 171, 'as before described, the pin 124 presses the arm 123 in a direction to cause the breast-gage to .be raised.

It is desirable to lower the gage-finger 59 into operative position before the last part of the feeding movement of the conveyer, so that the heel on the conveyer may be moved into engagement with this finger, while on the other hand, it is desirable to delay the descentof the breast-gage until the feeding movement has been almost completed, so as to insure that the heel shall have advanced past it. Accordingly, an arm 126 (Fig. 5) is fixed to the side-member 115 of the frame which supports the breastage and the lower extremity of this arm, which is bent into an approximately horizontal position, is ada ted to engageone of the rollers 28 on t e conveyer when the frame is first released by the disengagement of the arm 123 and the pin 124, and thus the breast-ga e and its frame are held in raised position or a short interval after the gage-finger 59 has descended, and until the last part of the feedmovement causes the roller 28 in question to move beyond the arm-126.

After both gage-members have been lowered into operative position the breast-gage is moved toward the ga e-finger 59. For this purpose a forked b ock 127 (Figs. 1 and 2) is fixed on the rod 114 and is engaged by one end of a lever 128. The other end of this lever is pivoted on a stud 129 which is fixed in a sleeve, 130 which connects the side frame-members 115 and 116 and rocks with them on the stud 119. A pin 131 is adjustably fixed in a slot in the lever 128, and this pin engages a slot in a slide-yoke 132 (Fig. 3) integral with a sleeve 133 which is pinned to a, rod 134. This rod slides through perforations in the side frame-members 115 and 116. A spring 135, coiled about the left-hand portion of the rod 134, is interposed between the member 115 and a collar' 136 fixed on the end of the rod.

f' with the breast-gage in its most retracted or left-hand position. The sleeve 133 is provided, however, with warm 138 depending such an application, and that it may be embodied in various other forms within the therefrom, as shown in Fig. 5, and the lower end of this arm is in the path of movement of a lug 139, which is screwed upon the left-hand end of the slide-rod 31 and is locked in place thereon by a nut 140. Ac-

cordingly, when the rod 31 moves to the right, in the performance of the feed movement of the conveyer, the lug 139, during the last part of this movement, engages the arm 138 and presses it to the right, thus causing the sleeve 133 and the rod 134 to slide to the right. In consequence of this movement the slide-yoke 132 moves the "pin 131, thus swinging the lever 128 to the right. This, in turn, causes the block 127, the rod 114, the plate 113, and the breast-gage 110 to move to the right. The breast-gage is, therefore, pressed against the breast of the heel. This movement-of the breast-gage is more rapid than that of the conveyer, owing to the multiplying efiect of the. lever 128,

so that it may efl'ectively be performed in a small part of the feed movement of the conveyer. Since the breast-gage'is moved positively .to its final right-hand position (vie-wing Fig. 1), it is by this movement that the position of the heel is determined,

the gage-finger 59 being adapted to yield to the movement of the heelproduced by the breast-gage and serving as a follower to insure that the heel shall be properly engaged by the breast-gage. In order to ad- }ust the operation of the breast-gage for heels of different sizes it is only necessary to move the pin 131 in the slot in the lever 128 (see Fig. 3), thus changin the efi'ective lever-arm through which the slide-yoke acts upon the lever 128.

When the frame which supports the breast-gage is swung upward the arm 138 is disengaged from the lug 139, whereupon the spring 135 returns the breast-gage to its initial position ready for another operation.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, an.arm 137 is fixed to the sleeve 133 and forked to engage and slide on the rod 114, this arrangement being employed to prevent the sleeve from turning on the rod 134 and thus to hold the yoke 132 parallel with the plane of the lever 128.

The gagefinger 59 and its supporting and actuating means are similar to analogous parts disclosed in the said Patent No. 1,102,311, and are not claimed herein as novel in themselves, but only in so 'far as they form a novel operative combination nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims.-

What is claimed as new, is

1. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer which may be loaded with heels; two gage-members; and means for moving thegage-members into the path of movement of the heels and respectively in front and in the rear of a heel on the conveyer, and for moving one gage-member toward the other to cause said members to positionethe heel between them.

2. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyor which may be loaded with heels; two gage-members; and means for moving the gag-members into the path of movement of the heels and be loaded with heels; two gage-members; r

and means for movingthe gage-members into the path of movement of the heels and respectively in front and in the rear of a heel on the conveyor, and for moving one gage-member toward the other to cause said members to position the heel the gage-member in front of the heel being yieldin-gly mounted so that the heel is positioned with respect to the surface engaged by the rear gage-member. i

4. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer which may be loaded with heels; two gage-members; and means for moving the gage members into the path of movement of the heels and respectively in front and in the rear ofa heel on the conveyer, and for moving the rear gage-member toward the front. gagemember to position the heel between them.

5. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer which may be loaded with heels; two gage-members; and means for moving the gage-members into the path of movement of the heels and respectively in front and in the rear of a heel on the conveyor, and for moving the rear gage member toward the front gagemember to position the heel between them, the .front gate-member being yieldingly mounted so that the position of the heel is between them,

v be loaded with heels;

ating during a movement of the conveyer.-

7. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer which may be loaded with heels; means for moving the conveyer intermittently; a gage-member; and means for moving the gage-member into the path of movement of the heels on the conveyer and into engagement with the rear-surface of a heel in the direction of feed so as to advance the heel to a predetermined position on the conveyer.

8. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer which may conveyer intermittently; a gage-member; and means for moving the gage-member into the path of movement of the heels on the conveyer and into engagement with the rear-surface of a heel in the direction of feed so as to advance the heel to a predetermined position on the conveyer, said means being adjustable to vary the amplitude of the movement of the gage-member.

'9. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, mechanism for transferring heels from the conveyer to a heel receivin station, and means arranged to bring the %ieels to a definite position on the conveyer, independently of the conveyer, preparatory to theopera- {301} of the transferring mechanism on the ee s. 10. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, transfer mechanism movable in a fixed path for receiving heels from the conveyer and delivering 'them to a heel receiving station in a definite position, and gaging mechanism constructed and arranged to bring a heel on the conveyer into a definite receiving pomeans for moving means for moving thesition for the transfer mechanism independently of the movement'or the positlon of th conveyer. I

11. A heel machine, having, in combination, a conveyerada ted to receive heels of different sizes at diti invariably advancing the conveyer intermlttently a fixed distance irrespective of the size of the heel on the conveyer, and gaging means independent of the conveyer constructed and arranged to bring all sizes of heels to a definite position on the conveyer irrespective of the position to which they have been advanced by the conveyer.

12. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, means to advance the conveyer, gaging mechanism independent of said conveyer for engaging and bringing the heels to a definite position on the conveyer, and means permitting an adjustment of the gaging mechanism in the line of feed for sizes of heels.

13. A machine for operating on heels having, in combination, a conveyer for heels, gaging mechanism operated in timed relation to the movement of the conveyer to move the heels relatively to the conveyer either in or opposed to the line of feed to bring the heels to a definite position with reference to a heel receiving station, and mechanism for transferringheels from the conveyer to said station.

14. A heel machine, having, in combination, a conveyer adapted to receive heels, feeding means for said conveyer, and heel gaging means to which the heels are advanced by the conveyer arranged to bring each heel -to a like position relative to the conveyer independently of the conveyer.

15. A heel machine, having, in combination, a conveyer adapted to receive heels, feeding means for said conveyer, and heel gaging means separate from the conveyer for engaging opposite sides of a heel and movable intermittently into heel gaging position arranged to bring the heels to a defi-' nite position on the conveyer.

ERASTUS E. WINKLEY.

positiomng different 

